The Walking Dead Season 5 "Is Going to Be Pretty Awesome"

Six-and-a-half months. That’s how long the wait will be from the cliffhanger ending of The Walking Dead Season 4 to the premiere of TWD Season 5. It’s going to suck. But hopefully the torturous wait will be worth it!

Comic book writer Robert Kirkman dropped a line about Season 5 into a previous tease about the Season 4 finale, telling TheWalkingDead.com, “There’s quite a bit of shock coming and I think people are going to be pretty startled with what happens moving forward and are definitely, definitely going to be anticipating the return of Season 5, which we’re working on right now and I can say is going to be pretty awesome.”

It’s not a lot to work with, but at least we know RK, showrunner Scott Gimple, and their writers are currently working on Season 5. Lauren Cohan (Maggie Greene) said the actors would be returning in mid-April for the new season. That's in line with last year's schedule, when cast and crew started arriving in Georgia around April 23. At the same time, RK and Scott shared photos of the writers hard at work on scripts for the new season. We haven't seen official updates from AMC, but Season 4 filming officially began on Monday, May 6, 2013. We speculated that Season 5 filming could start on Monday, May 5, 2014, but they'll start when they start.

David Morrissey said episodes are usually eight-day shoots, although they often take more time for a premiere or finale episode. Scott tweeted that they had wrapped the first ep of Season 4 on May 16 of last year.

Here are more dates to look forward to, if they continue to follow a schedule similar to last year and the year before. TWD Season 5 (and Talking Dead) will return in October, although no official date has been announced yet. We're guessing Sunday, October 14, 2014 will be the big day, but just pick a Sunday in the month. If Season 5 filming starts in May, it will probably end in late November, just like Season 4.

Are you looking forward to Season 5, still focused on Season 4, or just dreading the long empty road ahead?

The Walking Dead Season 4 finale airs Sunday, March 30, at 9 p.m. ET on AMC.